Information handled in daily business operations can be lost or become proprietary and known only to specific employees if it is not properly managed. Therefore, information management is one of the most important tasks in a company.
However, there are many people who understand the importance of information management, but may be troubled by the lack of thorough information management in their own companies.
In this issue, we will explain the importance of information management, security measures, and key points to ensure thorough information management in your company. And this article is for below people.
- “To understand the causes of information leaks and take appropriate measures to prevent information leaks.”
- “I would like to know the points to realize thorough information management in our company.”
- “To prevent information leaks by knowing the precautions to be taken when managing information”.
This article will help you understand importance of information management correctly and apply the knowledge you have gained to your company.
Contents
- 1 What is information management?
- 2 What is the importance of information management?
- 3 Causes of information leakage and countermeasures
- 4 5 points to ensure thorough information management
- 5 Best tool for easy information management for non-IT companies
- 6 Summary of the importance of information management
What is information management?
Information management is the process of properly managing information, protecting it so that it can be retrieved when necessary, and preventing it from being leaked.
Information accumulated in daily business operations is an information asset that is indispensable to the management of a company. For example, “customer information,” “company know-how,” “personal information of employees”, and all other information stored in a company are information assets.
If information is not made available for immediate use when needed, it can be time-consuming and costly to search for it, or it can be lost, which can hinder business operations. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a system to properly manage information on a daily basis.
As a means to properly manage information, the trend is toward “centralized management of information using IT tools” instead of analog media. The merit of using IT tools instead of personal computers is that information can be more easily accessed and utilized while ensuring security.
What is the importance of information management?
This section explains the importance of information management in a company. If team members understand “why information management is necessary” and share it throughout the company, you can raise awareness of the need for thorough information management.
To maintain brand image
One of the reasons why information management is important is to preserve the brand image.
If information is not managed correctly, the risk of information loss or leakage increases. If customer information, including personal information, should leak out, it will inevitably have a negative impact on the brand image of company as well as on its business, such as a decrease in sales due to a loss of social credibility.
In addition, if the brand image is damaged, measures must be taken to improve the image. It takes a great deal of time to restore a brand image once it has been degraded, it is necessary to protect the corporate brand through correct information management.
To prevent information leaks due to virus infection, etc.
Proper information management is also important from the perspective of preventing accidents caused by virus infection.
For example, if a computer in a company is infected by a virus that has entered from outside, the entire internal system may malfunction. In addition, if a virus causes access problems to a website, it could even affect the acquisition of leads from outside the company.
As we mentioned above, malicious manipulation of information or unauthorized access incidents can not only disrupt business operations but also result in lost sales opportunities.
Therefore, information should be properly managed in terms of security. Specifically, information can always be managed in a secure manner by leaving it on IT tools with high security standards.
To strengthen competitiveness of your company
It is important for companies to work on information management because it can strengthen the competitiveness of the company.
If each employee has a proper understanding of the usefulness of information management, information management within the company will be more thorough. For example, in an environment where proper information management is practiced, customer information as well as technical information on the products of company is checked and updated at a high frequency.
As a result, the speed of operations and the quality of services become more uniform, leading to improved competitiveness. In particular, teams that have improved their competitiveness through information management utilize and manage simple information sharing tools such as Stock.
Causes of information leakage and countermeasures
The following is an explanation of the causes of information leaks and how to prevent them. In order to properly and safely manage your information assets of company, it is necessary to have a good knowledge of information leaks.
Causes of information leakage
There are 3 main causes of information leaks.
- Cause 1: Employee mishandling
- Cause 2: Unauthorized access by a third party
- Cause 3: Information Leakage from Inside
Information leaks occur when employees mishandle information. For example, an employee may mistakenly send an e-mail or fax to the wrong address without checking the recipient, thus leaking confidential company information to outside parties.
There are cases where information is leaked due to unauthorized access by a third party because the security system is not sufficiently in place. For example, if a third party illegally obtains IDs and passwords via spoofed e-mail or other means, they can log in to the devices of individual and system of company, causing data falsification and the leakage of personal information of employees and customers.
Today, with the promotion of diverse work styles such as remote work, many people take their PCs with them. However, there is a possibility that PCs may be lost or stolen while away from home, or that information may be leaked by malicious employees.
If information management is not thoroughly implemented throughout the company, the information assets of company can easily be leaked, and measures must be taken to ensure this.
Countermeasures against information leaks
The following 3 measures can be taken to prevent information leaks.
- Countermeasure 1: Technical measures
Technical measures refer to security enhancement from the perspective of software. For example, installing security software and updating software. As digitization progresses, many companies have more than one digital terminal per employee, it is necessary to enhance the security of all terminals.
- Countermeasure 2: Physical measures
Physical measures refer to security enhancements from a hardware perspective. For example, biometric authentication systems, such as fingerprint authentication, or the use of employee identification cards when entering or leaving a security room, can be used to improve the security of the office itself.
- Countermeasure 3: Human measures
Human measures refer to preventing security incidents caused by people. Even if technical and physical measures are implemented, security incidents will occur if literacy of employees are low. It is necessary to establish procedures through training and work manuals on information security.
The above 3 measures should be taken to prevent information leaks. As for specific technical measures, we recommend the use of tools such as Stock that are protected by strict security standards.
5 points to ensure thorough information management
This section describes 5 points for ensuring thorough information management among employees. If you can discover and implement areas for improvement in your company based on the following points, you will be able to manage information appropriately.
(1) Establish an information security policy.
An information security policy is a set of guidelines and policies for information management.
By establishing an information security policy, a company can set the direction of information management and clarify how information management should be conducted.
As long as the underlying policy is precisely defined, when establishing detailed rules for information management, the rules can be selected based on whether they are in conformity with the policy, so that the rules will not be blurred.
(2) Clarify responsibilities
When managing information, it is very important to know who is responsible for the management.
This is because if the responsibility is unclear, “security awareness of employees” will be low.
Therefore, establish a person or team in charge of information security to clarify where the responsibility lies. By appointing a person in charge of information security, the person in charge will be able to take the lead in responding to any security incidents that may occur.
In addition, if the department takes the lead in educating employees, it can promote the spread of information management rules throughout the company. It is important to note, however, that the IT literacy of the person in charge is required, and that the entire company must have a unified understanding of information handling.
(3) Establish rules for information management.
In order to reduce human errors made by employees, detailed rules for management should be established in advance.
Employee errors in handling information must be prevented “before” they occur. If the rules are properly established, even employees with low information literacy will be less likely to make mistakes for handling information.
For example, establish detailed rules that match the level of information literacy at the site, such as “Do not install unauthorized software.”
(4) Periodic review of management systems
Periodic review of the management system is also important to ensure that employees are managing information properly.
In the world of information security, new risks arise every day. Even once a management system has been established, it must be constantly updated to ensure that it is the best possible system.
It is important to review the system regularly and make changes as necessary. In particular, To implement modifications such as adding countermeasures as appropriate against cyber-attacks and computer viruses that can be prevented in advance.
(5) Implement IT tools to centrally manage information
Another key point is to centrally manage information using IT tools.
If you can centrally manage internal information such as customer and business partner information using a highly secure tool, you can reduce the risk of information leaks and the time and effort required to search for necessary information.
In addition, if the tool is used throughout the entire company, all employees can accumulate and share know-how, thus preventing the personalized using.
IT tools are indispensable for thorough information management. However, even if they are introduced, they will not penetrate the company unless everyone can use them, so use simple information management tools like Stock to manage them.
Best tool for easy information management for non-IT companies
Below is a best tool that make information management easy.
The introduction of IT tools is indispensable for information management, but the choice of tools among those released by various vendors is a big issue. Tools should be selected based on two key factors: “ease of use” and “high level of security”.
Since all employees are involved in information management, even if a tool matches problem of company solving and requirements, if it does not match the information literacy of your employees, smooth information sharing will not be realized. In addition, tools with complex functions increase the risk of information leakage due to internal factors such as operational errors.
Therefore, a tool Stock that enables even employees in a non-IT company to easily manage information within the company is essential.
“Note” of Stock can be shared with any employee in real time while retaining all company information and meeting international security standards for safe use. In addition, “Message” are tied to the Note, so you can manage information without mixing up topics, which is a great feature that other tools do not have.
Stock｜The easiest tool for team information management
The simplest tool to stock information "Stock"
https://www.stock-app.info/en/
Stock is the simplest tool to stock information. Stock solves the problem, "there is no easy way to stock information within the company".
With Stock, anyone can easily store all kinds of information, including text information such as requirements, images, and files, using the Note feature.
In addition, by using the "Task" and "Message" functions, you can communicate with each topic described in the Note, so that information is not dispersed here and there and work can always be carried out in an organized manner.
＜Why do we recommend Stock?＞
- A tool for companies that are not familiar with ITYou don't need to have any IT expertise to get started.
- Simple and usable by anyoneStock is so simple that anyone can use it without any unnecessary features.
- Amazingly easy information storing and task managementIt is amazingly easy to store information such as shared information within a company, and intuitive task management is also possible.
＜Stock's pricing＞
- Free plan ：Free
- Business plan ：$5 / User / Month
- Enterprise plan ：$10 / User / Month
*Minimum number of users: 5 users
Summary of the importance of information management
We have focused on the importance of information management, security measures, and points to ensure information management within a company.
Information management is essential for maintaining brand image and strengthening competitiveness. While it is possible to establish an information management system in terms of operational aspects, such as clarifying who is in charge of information management and establishing policies, “efficient management” requires the use of IT tools to ensure thorough in-house information management.
However, tools with complicated functions due to their high security will result in poor usability and will not spread throughout the company. On the other hand, if a tool has functions so simple that anyone can operate it on the same day, all employees can use it immediately after its introduction.
Therefore, use Stock, an information management tool that is so simple that anyone can use it easily, regardless of IT literacy, to ensure that important information is managed. In fact, more than 240,000 companies, mainly non-IT companies, have achieved operational efficiency through information management.
It only takes 1 minute to sign up for free, so using Stock and aim to improve your work efficiency while simply managing your information.
